"Swear."
"Nay. I am told thou hast, as do all of thy unholy craft, an amulet which, worn on the bosom, will give him who for the time wears it a charmed life, and cause him to prosper in all that he undertakes. This amulet I ask of thee."
"First lay thy right hand upon the head of the serpent that binds my waist, and thy left hand upon thy heart, and, kneeling, swear to obey me in resuming thy earldom and thy wooing of Catharine of Bellamont, and it shall be thine."
He knelt, and with solemnity took the oath, repeating each word after her in an audible tone.
"This you promise to do or your soul forfeit."
"This I promise to do or my soul forfeit."
"Or thy soul forfeit!" repeated, from some unknown quarter, a sepulchral voice, that made him start to his feet with mingled surprise and alarm.
"Woman, what hast thou caused me to do?" he asked, with superstitious dread.
"No evil, so thou break not thy oath."
"So thou break not thy oath!" repeated the same voice, close to his ears.